In The Presence Of
by alien sex kitten
Summary: /"So. What's wrong with you?" "Nothing's wrong." "Liar. Why are you lying to me? I'm no Doctor McCoy, but I've also spent enough time with you to tell when you're lying."/ FRIENDSHIP. Chekov/Kirk. Brief mentions of Chekov/Bones and Spock/Kirk.
1. in the presence of

**Title ::** In The Presence Of**  
Rating :: **K+ (for some swearing and some alcohol drinking.)**  
Characters ::** Jim/Pavel friendship, mentions of Bones and Spock.**  
Inspired by ::** The fact that I don't think these two get enough friendship time together, and them with Gaila&Uhura (who were going to make an appearance, but then decided to ditch me at the last second) as BFF's just fills me with happy goodness. C:**  
WARNINGS ::** Slight OOC. Jim ranting. Some very brief mentions of slash (Bones/Pavel, Spock/Jim). Alcohol drinking. Pavel being a stereotypical smartass teenager. ;)**  
Beta'd :: **Nope. I claim all mistakes as my own.

**EDIT (08/11/09) :: **Updated the A/N.

_THISISTHESTUPIDLINETHATSEPERATESTHESTUPIDAUTHORSNOTESFROMTHESTORY_

It's late, oh so late (or early, depending on your point of view), and as Jim Kirk lay on his bed staring up at the ceiling in his dark room, he can't help thinking that he's going to be hella tired and snappish on the bridge tomorrow. He's hoping that telling his brain this will maybe be the secret code to his body just shutting down and letting him get to sleep, but nothing. He's still staring at the ceiling, not tired in the least.

He sighs in defeat and sits up, rubbing the heel of his hand into his eye and scrubbing the other hand over his face as he swings his legs over the edge of the bunk.

The sweet chime of the doorbell is unexpected, but not entirely unwelcome, so Jim calls, "Come in," with only the slightest bit of hesitation.

A large curly mop of brown hair, followed by cautious blue eyes framed in girlishly long lashes comes through the door, and although Jim should be surprised to see his whiz-kid Russian Ensign Navigator in his doorway so early in the morning, he isn't. The teen may be younger than everyone else, but the captain enjoyed socializing with him when Spock and Bones were getting on his nerves, and the last few days with them had been a complete and utter _nightmare. _

He can feel the large grin erupt on his face when his gaze travels lower and he realizes that Pavel has brought a large bottle of vodka with him, and he knows that it's _real_ vodka and not the cheap, wannabe vodka the replicators spit out.

Pavel immediately makes himself comfortable, grabbing the shot glasses from Jim's cabinet and settling himself on the bed next to the older man, pouring him a shot and handing it to him with a raised eyebrow.

Jim grabs the glass and downs it in one shot, licking his lips afterward out of habit and loving the burning of the drink as it slides down his throat.

They drink in silence for a while until Pavel suddenly turns on the bed to face Jim, nestling his glass into the comforter snugly to make sure it doesn't tip over, then puts his elbows on his knees, lays his cheek on his palm, and leans forward.

"So. What's wrong with you?"

It had definitely taken Jim by surprise the first time he realized that most of Chekov's accent was faked, with only his i's sounding a bit like ee's, and mixing up his v's and w's sometimes, but when he called him on it, Pavel just shrugged and answered smoothly, "It's fun to pretend."

Jim hasn't brought it up since then.

He sloshes the drink in his glass as he twirls it lightly, then takes a sip as he thinks, eyeing the determined Russian across from him with interest.

"Nothing's wrong."

The scoff doesn't surprise him.

"Liar. Why are you lying to me? I'm no Doctor McCoy, but I've also spent enough time with you to tell when you're lying."

He could call Chekov on his manners, reprimand him for speaking to his captain in such a blunt manner, but even though they're in Jim's quarters, he just isn't that type of guy, and technically they're off duty anyways.

Of course, the fact that Pavel is his best friend's boyfriend probably doesn't hurt either.

"You can't let them get to you, you know. They're only doing it because they care."

Ah.

Pavel is a smart boy, of course he'd figure it out.

Jim knows this, he knows they're only doing it because they care, but it's driving Jim up the walls, all of the mother hen-ing and bitch fighting going on. Bones and Spock are both grown men, and so is Jim, and the sooner they understand this the better off they will all be.

"But that's just it, Pavel. Me and Spock may be involved and Bones may be my best friend, but that doesn't give them the right to fuss over me and snap at each other all the time!"

He can hear his voice rising in volume as he grows more and more agitated as he rants, can feel his hands being tossed in the air and the vodka raining down on them from the glass he's still holding, but he is on a roll now, and nothing short of the ship catching on fire is going to stop him.

"Like, the other day, Bones said something to Spock about being a logic obsessed, green blooded, pointy eared, computerized bastard, and Spock started into this speech about how logically unappealing his face was, and then they were at each other's throats in seconds! I mean, who does that?! Not to mention earlier today when I got back from that planet exploration after falling down the cliff. They about tripped over themselves trying to get to me first and make sure I was okay! It's really starting to piss me off."

The captain ends his rant by bringing the glass to lips and drinking, or trying to anyways, even though there's nothing left in the actual glass because he flung it all over the room during his wild gesturing.

A pale, slim hand waving in front of his face draws his attention from his empty shotglass, and he looks up at the Russian with a curious gaze.

"Yes?"

If anyone asks later, he will deny it, but the sound of glee that the white chocolate in Pavel's grip draws from him is definitely a very girlish squee.

"Pavel! You are amazing, have I ever told you that?"

The teenager snorts in amusement.

"Well, saying it more often wouldn't hurt."

Chekov ducks the hand that comes flying towards him just in time.

"Don't be a smartass."

"Better than a dumbass."

Pavel doesn't manage to move fast enough this time, and the hand catches him squarely on his bare arm.

"Ow! Fine, see if I ever give you chocolate or vodka again... or offer to give you a massage."

Jim looks confused.

"You didn't offer to give me a massage."

"I was going to, but then you physically assaulted me, so now I don't think I will."

He does nothing but raise an eyebrow, and then he's chuckling as he strips his shirt off when the teenager sighs.

The older man lays down on his stomach and closes his too blue eyes as he munches on his chocolate and hums in contentment.

A light weight settles on his lower back, very close to his hips, and then long, talented fingers start working on the knots of tension that have gathered at the base of his neck, and he hums again.

After that, everything takes on a dreamy, hazy quality, and time has no place in his state of utter peacefulness.

Therefore, he isn't sure exactly _when_ the soft heat moves from sitting on his back to curled into his side, but he decides that he doesn't really care as he drifts off into a deep sleep, the troubles of the past few days forgotten in lieu of the pleasant dreams swimming behind his closed eyelids.

_THISISTHESTUPIDLINETHATSEPERATESTHESTUPIDAUTHORSNOTESFROMTHESTORY_

So, there was actually going to be a second part to this where Bones and Spock go looking for Jim and Pavel (who missed their shifts) and find them curled together on the bed and Jim missing his shirt with the room smelling of vodka (from when Jim flung it all over the room in his ranting) and chocolate, and them, y'know, jumping to conclusions, but I guess I'll let you guys decide. (: Just drop me a line; that'd be awesome.

Also, more song naming after. In The Presence Of... (Deepfreak Remix) by Jette-Ives feat. Jette Kelly and Holmes Ives. The song has absolutely nothing to do with the story **at all**, but it makes me want to dance, which is kind of fabulous. ;)

P.S. The thought of Jim being a closet chocoholic and Pavel "hooking him up" makes me giggle hysterically, thus, of course it had to squirm its lovely little way into the story.

P.P.S. Spock thinking McCoy's face is logically unappealing is credited to FMLmccoy on Twitter.

**SUPER IMPORTANT NOTE BELOW!!! Please read.**

Due to the fact that school is starting tomorrow and my schedule's hell this year, (All honors class (Chemistry, Algebra II and English), along with AP World History, Japanese II and beginning stagecraft as well as ADL peer training and Anime Club duties (Treasurer/Secretary)) I probably won't be updating or uploading anything new for the next couple of weeks. I'll do what I can to make sure I don't just abandon anything like I tend to do when I'm really stressed - and school really stresses me out, unfortunately - but I'm afraid I won't be making any promises.

/end rant.

**tl;dr :: **No updates for a few weeks, because school is lame and time consuming.

See you all in a few weeks!


	2. breathe in

**WARNINGS ::** **PLOT TWISTS FROM HELL! And a bit of OOC-ness. And, as always, not beta'd. **

**A/N :: **WHAT IS THIS PROCRASTINATION YOU SPEAK OF I AM DOING NO SUCH THING ESPECIALLY NOT FOR HISTORY ESSAYS OR ANYTHING NONONONO NOT ME! ((eyetwitch))

(Dude, this is so jacked up. This story went from being "complete" to being some major epic thing (because I fail at writing not-epic chaptered stories). Gah.)

**For Ms. McKirk :: LOOKEY LOOKEY BB IT'S HERE FINALLY I'M DONE I'M DONE AND ALL FOR YOU BECAUSE I LOVE YOUUUUU! **(This girl right here wrote everything from "Pavel automatically shoots up…" to "something a bit like suspicion leaking into his otherwise impassive voice," AND she's been kicking my ass for weeks trying to get me to write this chapter. So thank her for this thing, even if it is a few weeks too late.)

**For everyone else ::** I love all the rest of you too, promise! You all mean the world to me! Vulcan hand kisses for all of you, and enjoy.

_THISISTHESTUPIDLINETHATSEPERATESTHESTUPIDAUTHORSNOTESFROMTHESTORY_

The next day dawns bright and early. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and as Jim Kirk flutters open his baby blue eyes, he is treated to the sight of both his best friend and commanding officer leaning over him, one looking more than slightly angry and one looking as unemotional as always.

Although he should be a bit concerned when he wakes to both Bones and Spock first thing in the morning, he's gotten more than used to it and instead focuses on not going back to sleep as his eyelids struggle not to close.

As he starts to wake up a bit more, he becomes increasingly aware of a sharp stinging sensation in his necks, and he eyes the empty hypospray in Bones' hand accusingly.

"Bones! Why did you do that?" He asks, voice still hoarse and low with sleep.

He then notices the rustling sound of denim sliding on cotton sheets and the feeling of warm skin pressing against his own unclothed pelvis. A mop of curly hair lay in the crook of his neck, and long, gangly limbs are entangled with his own.

When he speaks, the curly moves to nestle deeper into his shoulder, and a sleepy, heavily Russian accented voice mumbles, "'s too early…"

Oh.

_Oh. _

With a start, Jim sits up straight and tries to explain, hastily tripping over his words as he begins to rise from the bed.

Unfortunately, his bed is small, and in his hurry to get up and away from the situation, the poor Russian boy that is clinging to Jim becomes entangled in the sheets and falls to the floor with a loud "thump", accompanied by the sound of glass shattering as the teen's flailing limbs catch the vodka bottle balancing precariously on the edge of the nightstand.

Pavel automatically shoots up, looking over to where McCoy and Spock are standing and then over to Jim who is standing a little ways away. He notices now that Jim is stumbling over words, obviously trying to explain what had happened. Then he sees the outraged look on McCoy's face.

"I...him...it was nothing...we didn't...Bones," Kirk manages to finish his explanation with those few words.

"Really Leonard, it was nothing, ve shared a few drinks and talked," Chekov explains.

"Why do I get the feeling it wasn't?" Bones asks with clenched teeth, looking over at the younger man.

"Yes, please explain," Spock says, something a bit like suspicion leaking into his otherwise impassive voice.

Jim starts at the sound of the emotion hidden in his lover's voice, and immediately becomes a bit angry.

"Hey. So we had a few drinks, he brought me chocolate and gave me a massage, what's the big deal?"

This time it's Bones that starts, and he directs a withering glare in the direction of his Russian lover, who is calmly picking the shards of glass out of his palms and not looking at anyone in the room.

"Oh? He gave you a 'massage'? Is **that **what it's called nowadays?"

Now, Pavel looks up from his hands and turns to stare Leonard straight in the face, and even as he continues removing the glass without looking he smoothly retorts, "You are being completely immature about this, Leonard."

The heavy silence that follows that statement is crushing and tense, and is broken only by a sharply hissed, "Fuck," by Pavel as he accidentally digs a piece of glass further into his palm.

Leonard immediately goes into Doctor mode and steps forward to help the teen, but is startled when Pavel takes a step back and shakes his head.

"It's fine. I can do it myself."

The doctor growls and takes a step forward again, but is shocked when Spock puts a hand out in front of him to keep from moving towards the Russian further.

"What the hell Spock?! He's hurting himself!" he protests angrily, before glancing up and realizing that the Vulcan is not even looking at him, but is instead staring at the Captain, nostrils flaring slightly.

"The air in this room smells heavily of vodka," here, his left eyebrow draws upwards slightly, "Especially the area surrounding your bed, Jim."

"Oh? Does it _really, _Spock?"

"I would not have said so if it did not."

Jim rolls his eyes in an extremely Leonard-like motion and then drags a hand through his hair and licks his lips, as if trying to taste the remnants of vodka that would be there if what Spock was suggesting had actually happened, _which it didn't. _

"Guys, stop freaking out. We didn't sleep together, okay? Aren't I allowed to spend time with my favorite Russian Ensign without having sex with him?"

Before either of the other men can answer, Pavel replies, "Da! And I can spend my time with my favorite Captain if I want. He may be very attractive, but that does not mean I had sex vith him, because if I had sex with every person I thought was good-looking I would be having sex a lot more than I am now."

Jim laughs, thoroughly amused and a bit surprised at the brashness of their youngest crew member and also at the very stunned looks Spock (well, as stunned as Spock could look, anyway) and Leonard were giving Pavel, and chimes back with a large grin, "Couldn't have said it better myself, Pasha!"

And then, just because it seems so natural, he walks forward and gives Pavel a kiss. A short, sweet, chaste, complete innocent kiss that lasts for less time than when he's forced to kiss his old, ugly, smells-like-cats-and-prune-juice Aunt Geraldine, but a kiss nonetheless.

He takes a step back, startled, bright blue eyes staring into slowly widening grey eyes as he thinks about the conversation they _just _had, telling Spock and Bones that they didn't sleep together…

He turns, immediately ready to explain himself and apologize profusely, but is only met with the soft 'schwick' sound of his door opening and a flash of Spock's blue uniform sleeve as both him and Leonard leave the room, swiftly, quietly, softly, but Jim knows he's screwed up, big time.

He's left standing in the middle of his room, arms dangling limply at his sides and eyes slowly closing in realization.

A soft voice whispers, "Jim?" from his side, and he opens his eyes to see his small Russian navigator, with his grey eyes wide but his smile sad as he opens his arms in invitation, and Jim leans down to give him a hug, but he really isn't sure who needs it more.

_THISISTHESTUPIDLINETHATSEPERATESTHESTUPIDAUTHORSNOTESFROMTHESTORY_

D: Poor Jim. I'm not exactly sure when this became his fault, but yeah, IDEK. This story is weird.

And also, I know, he's a bit out of character here, because really, him just standing there and not going after Spock or Bones as they flee the scene of the crime?

Well, I'll explain it in more detail next chapter, but I was pretty much thinking of him reacting much the same as when Spock comes back from Vulcan without his mother. Jim is so shocked that he doesn't react, like, at all, if that makes sense.

Anyways! If you drop me a line or two, that'd be great; might encourage me to actually get my work done finally. ;) Haha.

(Chapter title comes from: "Breathe In" by Frou Frou. Yep, same band as my last fic. ;) I'm sensing a pattern here.)


	3. stand up

**WARNINGS :: Plot development. Maybe some funky tense changes. And as always, not beta'd. **

**A/N :: **Um, yeah, hi, I'm actually not dead, sorry about that.

_THISISTHESTUPIDLINETHATSEPERATESTHESTUPIDAUTHORSNOTESFROMTHESTORY_

Leonard McCoy is not angry at Jim. He's angry at a lot of things; his ex-wife, the unfairness of the situation, the fact that he fled the scene. But he's not angry at Jim.

Jim, whose inability to resist a romantic encounter of any kind led to Jim macking down on **his **boyfriend, and Pavel just stood there and let it happen, and who does that if they weren't related or hadn't slept together?

Leonard can feel his eyebrows furrowing, mouth twisting into a frown as his fists clench, so he takes a deep breath and tries to relax, but he just can't, especially not with the image of his best friend and his young lover, so close together, no space between their lips…

He sighs, shoulders slumping and head hanging uncharacteristically.

"Dammit Jim."

He then hears a curious rustling sound from behind him, and he turns around to find Spock seemingly fidgeting, although Leonard isn't exactly sure, because he never can be with Spock.

The Vulcan looks at him with inscrutable eyes and then looks away, nostrils flaring slightly as a heavy silence presses down on them.

Leonard McCoy peers curiously at Spock when it appears that the Vulcan is not going to say anything, so the doctor opens his mouth to talk before he finds himself uncharacteristically cut off by a slightly agitated Vulcan, and maybe he should be a bit worried that he can tell Spock is agitated when his facial features haven't moved an inch, but he's too preoccupied with answering Spock to pay much attention to that.

"Doctor, I must admit that I am... concerned."

If the situation surrounding this conversation were not so stressful, Leonard might have made fun of Spock for admitting to such human emotions such as concern, but Leonard, regardless of what Jim said about him, actually did possess some self control and knew better than to make fun of Spock when he is obviously troubled, so the doctor keeps his mouth shut about that and instead, merely replies, "'bout what?"

"If I understand correctly," and Leonard can hear the unspoken "And I am quite certain I do" as clearly as if Spock had said the words aloud, "Jim feels a very strong mental and physical attraction towards me," and again, the unspoken words, this time a "And I the same towards him" hangs undoubtedly in the air between them.

"And yet…" Spock continues slowly, and Leonard can tell by the way his eyebrows furrow that this is the part that he seems to be concerned over, "He appeared to have engaged in sexual activity with Ensign Chekov, and furthermore, after denying that he did so, proceeded to engage with Ensign Chekov in our presence. I simply do not understand."

While Spock is talking, Leonard finds himself growing increasingly frustrated. The longer he thinks about it, and the more Spock speaks about it, the less sense it starts making to Leonard, and it never really made much sense in the first place.

Sure, Leonard's been Jim's best friend for years and has since gotten used to his quirks and eccentricities, so it shouldn't be bothering him this much but it **is.** And maybe that's what's really bothering Leonard, if he stops and thinks about it. Why does he **care **this much?

With a soft sigh, he looks up at the Vulcan and shakes his head slightly as he responds, "Fuck me if I know, Spock. Jim is Jim is Jim, and you know he does things without thinking. He's probably freaking out right now, knowing he screwed up, and even though he hasn't come after you already, he will, I guarantee you that."

* * *

"Fuck! Pavel! I don't… I can't… I don't even know what the fuck to do right now! They never just **walk away **from something like this! It's not in their nature! Either of them!"

With a growl, Jim falls to the bed next to the silent Russian, covering his face with his hands and spewing profanities amid jumbled moans of distress similar to those that he's been spewing since Leonard and Spock left however long ago it was.

Pavel's willing to bet on hours.

"Jim."

The short, sharp tone of Pavel's voice stops Jim mid-rant, and blue eyes peer out from beneath the fingers that blocked his face to look up at the younger man curiously.

Pavel is sitting with his legs folded underneath, grey eyes staring Jim down with a strange sort of affection mixed with fond exasperation, but instead of answering Jim's questioning gaze, simply states, "Computer. Time."

"7:45."

Jim feels his eyes widen to surely comical proportions as he goes deathly pale.

His shift starts in 15 minutes.

"**SHIT!" **

With a startled cry, he leaps from the bed as if it was suddenly made of searing hot coals and almost trips over the pile of blankets that are sitting on the ground, catching a piece of glass in his foot that makes him hiss in pain but doesn't slow him down as he runs toward the shower, swearing under his breath the whole way.

He tries not to pay any mind to Pavel's muffled laughter, but the sound makes him smile even as the bathroom door is closing behind him and he's stripping his shirt off, barking at the computer to tell him what time it is, slamming the button to start the sonic shower and almost taking his head off in his haste to get into the small glass box as quickly as possible.

* * *

The second the door slides closed behind his heavily frazzled captain, Pavel jumps off the bed and saunters out of the room, whistling softly, hands shoved into his pockets as fellow crewmates scurry around him, some bidding him a hurried "Good morning!" but most not paying attention to anything besides the PADD in their hands, and he winces in sympathy as one of those unfortunate souls runs straight into a bulkhead.

She holds her head with one hand and looks around sheepishly, but after realizing no one's even looking in her direction, she picks herself and the PADD off of the floor gingerly and practically runs down the hall.

Pavel shakes his head and continues down the corridor, stopping in front of his door and keying in the code with deft, nimble, almost numb fingers. The door slides open silently and the Russian steps into his room, surveying the space with apathetic grey eyes before lowering himself cautiously onto his heavily padded bed, suddenly feeling very tired. His hands are still bleeding, his shoulder is pounding from where he hit it on the table, and he had just been so goddamned **stressed **this morning.

Regardless of what he had said or how he had said it, this morning had freaked him the fuck out, and while he usually wasn't a fan of violence, he had been ready to punch someone this morning. Who he wanted to punch, he isn't quite sure, but even just thinking about it makes his teeth clench and his hands curl into tight fists as he tenses almost to the point of being in pain, and he's not usually an angry person, not in the slightest.

With a sigh, he carefully stands up and begins to get ready for the bridge, already feeling the very obvious stirrings of a tension headache flaring up behind his eyes.

It's going to be a **long **shift.

_THISISTHESTUPIDLINETHATSEPERATESTHESTUPIDAUTHORSNOTESFROMTHESTORY_

More exciting things will happen next chapter, promise for REAL this time. Until then, feel free to drop me a review or something.

I don't mind.

Really.

(Chapter title stolen from "Stand Up", by The Prodigy.)


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